2/2/2025

Blue Elk, Oregon, Stone & Rivers Ranch

I'm sitting at the table in the living room near the wood stove. Right after Rowan left, I started a fire. In the winter, especially, I love hearing the crackle.

The house was updated to have central air about a year before the Forest Service decided to sell the place. If the power goes out, we always have this trusty wood stove.

With the snow coming down and when I'm home alone, I prefer using it.

This one has a large front-facing window, and the stove is almost as large as a built-in fireplace. They did that because it needed to be large enough to host events.

I look around at our furniture, laughed and lived in, and try to imagine the living room empty for the weddings, fundraisers, and field trips that must have been hosted here over the years.

Winters can be long here, and there can be lots of snow, a stark contrast to my time in South Texas. I'm not worried about the roof. The new blue metal roof was installed only a year before Mark and Mabel died. That makes the metal roof three years old and the central air two years old, and we will have lived here for a year in the spring.

Mark and Mabel took terrific care of this property. I try to think about how Mabel would be happy to know that homemade meals are made in the kitchen as often as allowed and how proud Mark would be that Rowan and I haven't wasted the attic space. It took us a couple of months after we moved in to eradicate the wildlife that had taken up residence, but things have been mostly smooth with the house since then.

For the most part, we've had a quiet day. Chores were done early in the morning, mainly so we could do outdoor work during daylight hours. Rowan and I know we are both blessed only to have to work part-time. Our friends and neighbors take advantage of it sometimes, but we don't always mind.

I'll cozy up to my latest book if Rowan does not return soon.

The winds are coming in from the north. In the night, they are supposed to shift to coming in from the east. Some of the snow may melt.

I'm grateful to be here in this home with Rowan. I initially hesitated to be this far out of town, but it's only a few miles away. It's quiet out here. I do worry about the black ice with the short days. The weather is extreme here at times, but the scenery, the wildlife, and the townspeople more than makeup for it.

8:42 pm

Rowan came back about an hour ago. The neighbor is fine. Being a little more than a mile down the road, we check on each other from time to time. Alex lives down the way about a mile or so and used to check on Mark and Mabel. It's how they were eventually found. 😬 Since we moved in, Alex seems to continue the tradition. As an older fellow, I think he's just happy to have some company sometimes, and checking on us "to make sure we're staying out of trouble" gives him something extra to do.

Rowan said he needed help holding a fender in place to reattach it. Many people do different things for hobbies here. Alex restores vintage vehicles. He's brave to do it in the middle of winter.

Two deer walked through the yard earlier, leaving a small trail in the snow. Everything is ready for tomorrow.